Chris Harris on Track Pack

[Stevie76]

Originally Posted by Chris956

For the £10k premium it should have had :

Alcantara steering wheel
More power
Bigger & Better brakes for circuit work
Roll cage
Harnesses
Proper bucket seat
Decent amount of weight saving over standard

The track pack is a gimmick and anyone serious about track work will add all those things above to a standard car for way less than £10k so who would bother to buy the track pack only to have to replace all the brakes after the first day on track ?

Totally agree and Nissan should have looked towards Zie Germans and that beetle with the GT3 RS badge on the rear end

[CT17]

Originally Posted by Stevie76

Totally agree and Nissan should have looked towards Zie Germans and that beetle with the GT3 RS badge on the rear end

Me too.
So many track modifications missing.
More of a gimmick so you can show your car cost more than your mates IMO.

[nick the tubman]

agreed..... lets have a proper GT3 RS type model. not a bulshit PR exercise.

R35 GTR-S - mmmmmmm...... and at similar price to the road version, maybe 10k more as you say, i reckon they would sell like hot cakes...

[Aerodramatics]

Yes, I feel for the Track Pack customers who will have bought the track pack in the expectation of having bought the track-ready version of the GT-R.

The chances these customers could be disappointed if they experience high gearbox oil temperatures after a few laps and have to come in early during typical 20 minute open pit lane sessions and then at the end of the day start to see disc and pad cracking and within a couple of track events find they may need to replace pads and discs.

At the moment I know of three practical solutions to the oil temp. issue:

1. Short-shift before 5500rpm, e.g. self-control.
2. Run higher temp. oils, e.g. Willall Racing
3. Fit a gearbox cooler and higher sump capacity, e.g. Forge

the track pack missed a golden opportunity to address this.

For general brake temps. management to allow decent session lengths, I've not seen a great deal of options, but we all seem to do;

1. Replace OEM with high temp braking fluid, e.g. DOT5.1 or better
2. Replace OEM pads with high temp pad material, e.g. Pagids/PF/Carbotecs etc.
3. Accept that for a heavy car the driver must sacrifice a few hot laps for some extra cooling laps
4. Go carbon-ceramic, e.g. Alcon ( I wish!!!).

Not seen any convincing cooling solutions in terms of ducting, although Litchfield was exploring the option at one point, but it doesn't seem to be a go-er at the mo.

Recalling the U.K. launch event in October 2011 at Silverstone, I witnessed a well-rehearsed stage-managed event. Mizuno-san did his Corporate duty and extolled the virtues of the new MY12 model year revisions and did his best to enthuse about the UK track pack option and the more serious JDM offering, with track support. We all politely nodded, smiled and concluded the Track Pack is a marketing gimmick.

The one element that intrigues me is the brake ducting and marketing claim it reduces steady state disc temperatures by 100K compared to the standard car. That sounds like worth having. And given it costs nothing, does beg the question why is it not standard?

For me the question is, under what conditions is this performance achieved. E.g. on the main straight at the Ring at 180mph+ or at 100-120mph on normal tracks after a lot of braking for the twisties? My guess is it's a sustained terminal velocity performance figure, not typical 120mph 5-10 second transients of normal track work.

The marketing boys still seem to be chasing the "lifestyle" customer who wants to "buy-in" to the Track kudos without doing it. I don't think that customer exists.

In reality, what they've got is us. Serious enthusiasts, who see the GT-R for the performance icon it is, and who also enjoy a track day and wanted to do a few more of these a season. If they'd offered us what we want (bespoke NISMO-branded tuning) through the HPCs (using MH's past experience as a model) they'd have made more money from us and further enhanced the HALO effect of the GT-R "Legend". Instead, the Corporate thinkers have left this segment to the aftermarket - more fool them.

I thought marketing was about listening to your customers and satisfying their needs?
Cna't help but agree with the advice for Nissan to think more GT3 and less Gin and Tonic.

[Jasper013]

Aero - well said. Highlights a major flaw in Nissans marketing of the Track Pack as a realistic option. If I was Iain Litchfield or the like, I would be rubbing my hands together.

Nissan have missed the mark big time and all we will continue to do is utilise the excellent aftermarket services that are available to us. This allows us to make our standard machines far better than the current Track Pack offering.

[scampbird]

I tell you what I'd have been tempted with - a Comfort pack. Give it some proper springs/dampers that work on UK roads.

The brake ducts should be on the standard car for goodness sakes.

[Guy]

Litchfield could easily produce a proper Track-Pack easily for the same £10k with the right parts (cage/harnesses/buckets/brakes/ducting).

Imagine how good Nissan could make a track pack if they bought the right bits, given they don't have to buy the parts outright, just pay the marginal costs over the stock ones when building the car.

The biggest joke is the seats, everyone else in the entire world knows that a track car needs bucket seats and thats what customers want in a track-car, instead they decide that instead they'll use Mizunho 'magic sticky seats'. It sounds like a bad TV infomercial late at night - 'New Magic Sticky Seats', only available on TV, call now to buy yours for only 5 easy payments of £2,000

Guess what the GT3 and 24 Hr GTR racers run - magic seats or buckets? Oh and a cage and harnesses.........

[Chris956]

Have Nissan confirmed if the Track Pack equipped car will still maintain its warranty when on track like Porsche or do you have to go through the ridiculous ( and expensive ) before and after checks to reinstate warranty. And have they sorted the tranny overheating issues on the track special pack !!!

[sw1000xg]

Originally Posted by Chris956

For the £10k premium it should have had :

Alcantara steering wheel
More power
Bigger & Better brakes for circuit work
Roll cage
Harnesses
Proper bucket seat
Decent amount of weight saving over standard

The track pack is a gimmick and anyone serious about track work will add all those things above to a standard car for way less than £10k so who would bother to buy the track pack only to have to replace all the brakes after the first day on track ?

Don't need a roll cage they only put them in due to the track cars i.e. GT3 RS and all that being so light, keeping it stiff on the track. The GTR is nice and heavy so no need for a roll cage!

Though it does need better AP racing or CC brakes, more bhp/torque, and other stuff...

I hope this car does so much better on the track than the standard car and if it does the 10K is defo worth the extra!

I know i'm five years old when it comes to lap times but I would still like the bragging rights of owning a GTR (soon) thats 85K and faster than anything Porsche/Ferrari/Corvette/Merc and so on offers!


Has anyone else noticed that Nissan are now trying to become more like the big boys out there now offering little but charging more. It's now upto the owners of their GTR to get onto Nissan and give them some reality footwear where the sun don't shine!


Hopfully someone will put the 2013 Premium and Track pack together...

GET EMAILING THEM CAR MAGS!

Premium VS Track Pack!

[Aerodramatics]

For me, rollcages are more about driver cell integrity, rather that torsional stiffness for suspension geometry.

Not sure anyone would fit in with a helmet in a GT-R... one'd would need to be a proper shorty.

[Chris956]

even a half cage would be of benefit and something to properly secure harnesses too

[Aerodramatics]

Originally Posted by Guy

Litchfield could easily produce a proper Track-Pack easily for the same £10k with the right parts (cage/harnesses/buckets/brakes/ducting).

Imagine how good Nissan could make a track pack if they bought the right bits, given they don't have to buy the parts outright, just pay the marginal costs over the stock ones when building the car.

Guy, you are soooo right about the sticky seats. Daft.

Still, a stage II GT-R with a proper gearbox cooler will whoop any Porsche ever built... you should have kept the faith.

Come back, all is forgiven! Imagine if you and Cem invested in the perfect R35 track tool ?!

You *know* you want to. How about, buying a share in mine and modding?
Besides, a 911 is a glorified Beetle, as Ferdinand well knows.

Whereas, the GT-R can do the back-seat Maccy-Ds run no worries

My feeling is that NMGB or JDM would fug-up the mods, no matter what. For me, it was the ultimate in shame to watch Mizuno-San prostitute himself on behalf of Nissan Marketing for the MY12. Shame on Nissan Marketing. I felt his pain.

I'd love to just *try* the Carbon-Ceramics by Alcon. If *only* they could halve the price I would buy them no question. Same goes for the steelie BBK. Some sales must be better than zero? C'mon Alcon!

How's the nth Porsche going? Surely, you've had enough of the Thomas the Tank Engine look by now?

[paul__k]

The chances these customers could be disappointed if they experience high gearbox oil temperatures after a few laps

Funny how the ring 24 hour "standard" cars had a much bigger tranny cooler fitted....

[smurfgtr]

nice review

[charles charlie]

Originally Posted by smurfgtr

nice review

crappy posts.....